Having MAJOR problems

In the last few weeks I have been having major problems with my system. The main difficulty i am having is locating the problem.

For a while my computer has been freezing, stalling and randomly shutting down.
The first thing i thought it could be was my CDROM drive as occasionally loading a CD would cause the computer to crash, so i replaced that with a SonyCDRW 52x24x52. I took out my old drive and put in the new one, also using the new IDE cable.
For a few days it ran fine then I had the same problem again. So i thought well maybe it could be the power supply if its so random. So i put the psu from my parents computer into mine. Again it ran fine for a day or so, and in the mean time i threw away my psu. Then it started crashing again, so i brought a Enermax 350W psu which has yet to arrive (ordered on Fri).
I just dont know what it is thats causing it to crash, ive tried playing games like Moh:aa and JK:Jedi Academy but they crash at least 2-3 times i.e. hard reboot, but once there running there fine for hours.
I dont know what could be causing this, and the problem the problem happen just before Catalyst 3.7's came out and they didnt fix it so it cant be driver related, also i have tried a complete reinstall of Windows with 3.7.

Originally posted by OTE In the last few weeks I have been having major problems with my system. The main difficulty i am having is locating the problem.

For a while my computer has been freezing, stalling and randomly shutting down.
The first thing i thought it could be was my CDROM drive as occasionally loading a CD would cause the computer to crash, so i replaced that with a SonyCDRW 52x24x52. I took out my old drive and put in the new one, also using the new IDE cable.
For a few days it ran fine then I had the same problem again. So i thought well maybe it could be the power supply if its so random. So i put the psu from my parents computer into mine. Again it ran fine for a day or so, and in the mean time i threw away my psu. Then it started crashing again, so i brought a Enermax 350W psu which has yet to arrive (ordered on Fri).
I just dont know what it is thats causing it to crash, ive tried playing games like Moh:aa and JK:Jedi Academy but they crash at least 2-3 times i.e. hard reboot, but once there running there fine for hours.
I dont know what could be causing this, and the problem the problem happen just before Catalyst 3.7's came out and they didnt fix it so it cant be driver related, also i have tried a complete reinstall of Windows with 3.7.

Any ideas???

Most appreciated

OTE

Click to expand...

could you list your system specifications in as much detail as possible and also include any error messages you can remmeber or do see ?

also what exactly happens during the freeze ? hdd light ? cd rom light? anything of that nature ?

from experience, jetway boards are not good performers. check the www.jetway.com.tw website for a bios update for starters, and the error is pointing to a driver issue. so its time to update the radeon, the soundblaster, the network card (precaution)

another thing to note is an athlon t-bird cpu has less advanced graphics support then a duron cpu. so the cpu may be crashing the system when a game looks for an advanced dx9 command. it may be worth upgrading to at least an amd xp cpu, the lower end models are so cheep now, less then a new stick of ram.

thanks for the replys, unfortunately i dont have the cash for a major component upgrade, so i could either get - new mobo (abit nf7-s), XP1800 pr 2000 + 256DDR, or a graphics card. what should i go for?

clear the cmos... there should be a manual that tells you how to short it and then stick back the jumper to the original position..

once you do that.. remove your audio pci device and slot your nic card in a different area and try it out for stability... if you really need audio consider putting the sound card in a differnt slot than before as well...

see if this helps... if the system is stable for a while then hopefully you are on your way...